The present invention relates to connecting devices for heat exchangers such as evaporators and condensers.
The term xe2x80x9caluminumxe2x80x9d as used herein and in the claims includes pure aluminum and aluminum alloys.
For use with heat exchangers having a fluid circulating channel and two openings of respective opposite ends of the channel formed as juxtaposed in one side of the heat exchanger, a connecting device is known which comprises a connector having two horizontal through bores corresponding to the respective openings and fixed to the heat exchanger with the through bores in coincidence with the respective openings. The connector comprises a blocklike body adjacent to the heat exchanger, and two short tubular projections provided on the connector body around edges thereof defining the respective through bores and to be opposed to a connectable device, each of the tubular projections being in the form of a spigot fittable in a socket of the connectable device. Since the connector has the structure described above, the two spigot portions must be made from a large block of material by cutting. This not only causes waste of a large quantity of the material but also gives rise to the problem that after one of the spigot portions has been formed by cutting, this spigot portion interferes with the cutting operation for making the other spigot portion.
An object of the present invention is to provide a connecting device for heat exchangers which is easy to make without involving waste of material.
To fulfill the above object, the present invention provides a connecting device for a heat exchanger having a fluid circulating channel formed with an opening at one end thereof and an opening at the other end thereof, the openings being formed as juxtaposed in one side of the heat exchanger, the connecting device comprising a blocklike connector body having two horizontal through bores corresponding to the respective openings and fixed to the heat exchanger with the through bores in coincidence with the respective openings, a tubular member being fluid-tightly fitted in each of the through bores and having a connecting end projecting toward a connectable device, the connecting end being in the form of a spigot fittable in a socket of the connectable device. The spigots thus provided need not be formed from a blank of material by cutting.